Ralph B. Lloyd: Southern California Oil and the Shaping of Portland

In the 1920s, Ralph Bramel Lloyd (the namesake of Portland’s Lloyd District) orchestrated the development of one of America’s largest oil fields. Lloyd subsequently invested his Southern California petroleum earnings in commercial real estate in several western cities, most notably Portland. Michael Adamson joins us to present Ralph B. Lloyd’s story, focusing on how Lloyd came to be so wealthy and from where Lloyd’s ideas for developing his Portland real estate holdings emanated. This talk is based on Adamson's new book, Oil and Urbanization of the Pacific Coast: Ralph Bramel Lloyd and the Shaping of the Urban West. Copies of the book will be for sale at the presentation.
 

Michael Adamson is an independent scholar based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His essays on business and urban history and US foreign economic policy have appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals and scholarly collections. He also is the author of A Better Way to Build: A History of the Pankow Companies.

This lecture program is held at the Architectural Heritage Center - 701 SE Grand Avenue

Seating is Limited. Pre-Registration is Highly Recommended.

Parking is on-street (free on Saturdays) or in the parking lot on the west side of Grand Avenue between SE Yamhill and Belmont Streets - just to the north of the Urbanite. Thank you to Bolliger and Sons Insurance for sharing their lot with us for our evening and Saturday education programs.

Image: Bookcover Courtesy of Michael Adamson